Real started and ended strongly, but a strong five minute spell for Barcelona before half time was enough for them.

Pep Guardiola named an unchanged side from the first leg, with Jose Pinto continuing in goal.

Jose Mourinho named a very attacking side, with Kaka coming in as the central playmaker annd Gonzalo Higuain upfront. Pepe moved into defence.

This was as dominant and proactive a performance as we’ve seen from Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho in the Clasicos – Barcelona were rarely allowed to get into their stride, and were hanging on late in the game.

Early stages

As we’ve come to expect, Real pressed from the opening minute, with four attackers moving forward to shut down Barcelona’s four defenders. And, as we’ve also become accustomed to, they had an early chance before Barcelona had settled, when Higuain capitalized upon a poor pass, but shot wide within ten seconds.

That incident summed up the first half – Barcelona’s passing was sloppy, but Real wasted chances. Mourinho’s side deserve a large share of the credit for their work rate and bravery in chasing early on, but equally Pinto seemed to cause Barca a lot of problems – he isn’t as comfortable as Valdes on the ball, and a couple of times his poor distribution resulted in giving the ball away near the penalty box.

Real also did well at transitions. It’s not often they play more direct attacking players, and Kaka did well to drive counter-attacks forward a couple of times. As Sergio Busquets was drawn to Kaka, space often opened up for Mesut Ozil, who had one of his more prominent Clasicos coming in from the right of a 4-2-3-1.

But then, Barcelona would have been expecting Real pressure from the first whistle – Real just always seem to fade after around 30 minutes. But, despite the goals going in just before half time, that didn’t really happen.

Barcelona problems

Barcelona’s passing was much poorer than usual. There seemed to be two main problems here – first, they couldn’t get the ball out from the back quickly because of Real’s pressing. Second, they didn’t stretch the play well enough, and were trying to play in a congested space in the middle. In the first leg, their out-ball was always Iniesta, free on the left wing. He played the same role again, but was up against Alvaro Arbeloa, a natural full-back, rather than Hamit Altintop, who didn’t know how to play the position.

Therefore, Arbeloa was much better at tracking his man, Iniesta didn’t know whether to go wide (where he rarely got the ball) or come inside, where he then added to the congestion. Barca didn’t have a right-winger, Dani Alves had been told to play more cautiously, and what’s more, Barca didn’t even seem to be focusing upon ball retention and killing the game – they gave the ball away too much.

Their main area of penetration in the first game was by hitting balls over the defence, and looking for Cesc Fabregas to break from midfield. Fabregas did that once, but played a poor pass to Messi. Alexis Sanchez was the other threat, playing right-of-centre and working that side of the pitch, but Real seemed to play a little deeper in defence than in the first leg. They also had Pepe, more mobile than Ricardo Carvalho.

Real weren’t as compact as usual, though. When Lassana Diarra moved forward towards Xavi, it often meant Messi was free between the lines. That was most obvious for the first goal – look at where Messi gets the ball, he’s beyond Real’s two holders already. As brilliant as his run and pass was, he didn’t actually have to go past a challenge.

It was Pedro who scored the goal, and Barcelona actually benefited from Andres Iniesta’s injury. Pedro came on, stretched the play and provided the threat of pace over the top – it seemed to expand the active playing zone and give Barca more space to play in elsewhere.

Substitutions

The line-ups after Real's three changes

The key to the second half, and Real’s comeback, was Mourinho’s double substitution after an hour. Esteban Granero had already replaced Diarra, primarily as the Frenchman was on a booking (and if he can’t tackle, there’s no point him being on the pitch) but this also helped Real move the ball more quickly.

Karim Benzema replaced Higuain and went upfront in a straight swap, but more interestingly Jose Callejon was introduced down the left, with Kaka going off. That meant he could watch Dani Alves’ runs, and Ronaldo could go upfront. Real were now, more or less, 4-4-2, with Benzema and Ronaldo taking it in turns with their movement – one went left, the other went right. One came deep, the other went over the top.

It worked excellently, pulling Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol all over the pitch. Those two had looked nervous all night, but this meant they no longer had a spare man, and Guardiola didn’t take the decision to move Sergio Busquets deeper to form more of a back three / five, which would have been the logical option – Fabregas and Xavi would have played in midfield, and Javier Mascherano could have come from the bench if needed. Busquets, after all, was no longer dealing with a central playmaker.

Maybe a spare man would have prevented the Real goals? It’s impossible to say, but Ronaldo’s march past Puyol was relatively easy, and the second goal was another example of Barcelona conceding possession cheaply at the back. It’s not that they looked to pass it, it’s that they passed it poorly, and then found themselves in poor positions.

Another issue was Barcelona’s lack of pressure from the front. Indeed, whilst they weren’t outpassed here, they were probably outpressed by Real.

Late on, Guardiola replaced Sanchez with Mascherano, who went to centre-back, with Puyol moving across to the right. Again, an extra centre-back (rather than a replacement centre-back) seemed more sensible, but Barcelona held on.

Conclusion

Real didn’t win the match, nor the tie, but they produced as good a performance as you’ll see from an away side at the Nou Camp this season. Mourinho was braver than ever before with his selection and instructions to press – Real won the ball high up, stopping Barca building attacks, and creating chances of their own.

Their problem was the simple wastefulness in front of goal – they produced more goalscoring chances than Barca; only finishing let them down. The blame there lies with certain players, rather than with Mourinho’s tactics, which worked well.

Excellent review of the most exciting football match I’ve seen this year. Mourinho’s tactics impressed me, but once again the finishing of certain players seems to be lacking. It must be so frustrating to see his planning succeed, but his players missing.

Perhaps in the market for a new striker this summer? I think Robin van Persie would be a nice fit.

Benn Fitz on January 26, 2012 at 12:50 am

I think Higuain was a little unfortunate to get that chance so early. It was almost as if it came too early and he was surprised to get it. Higuain is statistically the most clinical finisher in Europe according to whoscored(fantastic website by the way) so I don’t think you can blame him for being a bad striker but you can blame his miss as a bad miss; a statistical anomaly per say.

Aidan on January 26, 2012 at 1:01 am

My comment at 12.56 was supposed to be a response to this aswell but I put it in the wrong place

RA on January 26, 2012 at 1:08 am

Another new striker? Jesus christ.

Elsa on January 26, 2012 at 2:14 am

Van Persie?? If there’s a striker in the world that suit Madrid tactically, that is Edinson Cavani. Real Madrid is a very counter attacking side, playing on the break and get forward quickly, similar to Napoli but way faster and more skillful. Great on feet and strong in the air. When you have bunch of players who can pass the ball or create something their dribbling skill such as Ozil, Kaka, Di Maria, and Ronaldo on your side, you won’t need a striker who involved in build up play.. You need a striker to finish it off..who’s better than Cavani?

Josef on January 27, 2012 at 8:50 pm

good gracious. you and ever fan like you who says, “ah, Real [or Barca, or City, etc] don’t have enough top players. Let’s spend more borrowed and/or oligarchical money and make the overall level of competition less interesting by concentrating all the best players on fewer teams!” do not deserve to watch this sport.

Benn Fitz on January 26, 2012 at 12:46 am

Great performance by Madrid and finally Mourinho gets a tactical victory over Guardiola. Ozil was fantastic coming in from the right as he was so intelligent in his movement. As you said, with Kaka occupying Busquets, it allowed Ozil the freedom from a man marker and he became the key player for Real Madrid. It was almost as if Mourinho sacrificed Kaka’s attacking input for the benefit of Ozil, but as you also stated, Kaka did look decent on the counter attack. My final point is on Ronaldo. He was brilliant today in both phases of play. I don’t think I have ever seen him work that hard. It was almost as if he finally came to the realization that to beat Barcelona he can’t be a passenger defensively. This perfomance doesn’t surprise me though, it seems like Madrid were on the verge of putting together a perfomance like this but various factors seemed to stop them. Overall a fantastic game of football.

Clarence on January 26, 2012 at 12:48 am

Barca shall use 3-4-3 at once in order to add some protection at the back.Pep did it too late

hutman on January 26, 2012 at 1:31 am

Way to beat Barcelona:

-Sit deep, let messi shoot from outside.

-Conjest the mid, but be pedestrian, conserve energy.

-Let them score. Time the conceding of goals near half time.

-Second Half: Do exactly what Madrid did. Press, create and convert.

This strategy should at least work for grabbing an away goal at the Camp Nou.

Sid on January 26, 2012 at 2:32 am

Also the opposing team’s attackers should stick to their defenders because that’s the area from where they start their play and that’s what Madrid did.

legoman on January 26, 2012 at 2:47 am

you have to remember that this Barcelona side were below their normal standards. Probably due to fatigue more than anything else (as expected in a midweek match. While Madrid did look to come close for a miraculous comeback from a depressing first tie, it is indisputable that this Barcelona side are still dominant over this Madrid side and probably any other side in the world when all competitors are rested properly.

Also letting Messi shoot from the outside isn’t a safe option to take at all. Messi may not score lots of long shots but he is definitely capable of it. How many times have you seen him cutting in from right to left outside the box to the left side and then pop one in? He is a threat wherever he is in the game. Giving him space and time is already too much of a risk to take.

The only Major concern I have with Barcelona right now is their mentality that they can ease off the pressure after they score. They conceded the 2 in Camp Nou too easily.

madrid magico on January 26, 2012 at 2:58 am

Barcelona are a bunch of pussys passing the ball each others and when this doesn´t work, they call the referees.
busquets is a shame

perfect, that was just what this dialogue needed. finally the voice of reason!

unclesam on January 26, 2012 at 11:26 am

Um, why would the Barcelona team be more fatigued than the Madrid team that had a frantic game against Bilbao, while Barcelona had a far easier game against Málaga (not saying that Bilbao is a far better team, just that Barcelona had an easier time against Málaga than Madrid had), and that they rested Xavi, Puyol & Cesc against Málaga, while Madrid played basically the same XI that started against Barcelona with the exception of Coentrão who came on for Marcelo, Pipa who came on for Benzema, and Pepe who came on for Varane? Pepe was also suffering from an injury until just days before the game.

Clearly, Real Madrid had the right mentality and attitude, while Barcelona didn´t (they tried to preserve their lead rather than extending it, which could´ve been their downfall).

Johndoe on January 26, 2012 at 8:05 am

Well about your strategy…it is EXACTLY what Arsenal tried to do a Nou Camp last year…

I’m starting to think this 4-2-4 type system (which we also saw from the two Manchester clubs at the start of the season) with no “proper” holding midfielders (think Alonso and Granero here, Anderson and Cleverley, and Toure and Barry – none of these are “destroyers”) may well be the way to go in stopping, or at least being competitive against Barcelona this season. With the midfield Barcelona have, you’re never going to outnumber them in that area, so you essentially concede that area, playing two players in the middle who spread the ball out to areas where you *can* outnumber Barcelona, that is, on the wings and up front.

My point is, playing a three man midfield in an attempt to get a foothold in that area is futile, really, when Barca can easily tuck Iniesta inside, drop Messi deeper, and all of a sudden you have five players in the middle of the park, plus Alves pushing up as an extra option on the wing. Furthermore, by playing three in the middle (and still losing the battle there), you’ve lost a man who could be making a difference elsewhere.

Benn Fitz on January 26, 2012 at 1:04 am

That’s a fair point. “Your never going to outnumber them in midfield or outplay them individually, so concede that area and outnumber them elsewhere.” Makes alot of sense. For this tactic to work the pressing would have to be relentless as that shape would get eaten up if they sit back. Also, if Barca play the 3 man central defence then the two upfront may be less effective. How do you think Mourinho should counter that possibility?

“With the midfield Barcelona have, you’re never going to outnumber them in that area, so you essentially concede that area, playing two players in the middle who spread the ball out to areas where you *can* outnumber Barcelona, that is, on the wings and up front.”

I wrote a preview of tonight’s Clásico detailing just such a strategy. The idea of it stems from chess: a side playing ‘classically’ looks to control the centre with pawn structure and support, much like how Barça looks to flood and dominate the midfield, so the natural counter to the classical approach is the ‘hypermodern’ approach, forgoing pieces in the centre of the board to favour fluidity and tempo built from the flanks.

Editor’s note: This tactical preview has been written by twelve point courier. Beyond being a football tactics enthusiast, he is a sports/politics blogger with a slight emphasis on snark and illustrating the asinine and illogical. Follow him on twitter @tpcourier.

To borrow a line from Bill in ‘Kill Bill’: I guess I overreacted. I’m just touchy to accusations of plagiarism, is all.

Andre on January 26, 2012 at 4:48 am

Excellent preview, I agree with a lot of the points mentioned – and I think Mourinho does as well. He’ll see how effective this mentality was against Barca, and look to use it in future contests. I think this is the year he takes the league title, I really hope he get’s a cushion against the media/fan pressure and stays past this season. Could see some fantastic things in the future.

András on January 26, 2012 at 10:11 am

Great stuff!

Awahs on January 26, 2012 at 3:13 am

Honestly, I believe the opposite. Stack your midfield, put in 4 or 5 midfielders, one hard runner on the left to shadow Dani Alves, and one forward upfront who can disrupt the other defenders as well as lead counters. Completely shut down, break down the left and flood down the middle (given that Xavi/Iniesta/Fabregas are not the best at marking).

Both ideas have lots of merit as well as lots of risk involved, and of course it depends on the team available, but I do see a defensive approach working better against Barca.

Andre on January 26, 2012 at 4:49 am

This can be true of most teams, but the players of Madrid by their own admission prefer attacking football and this is where they put in their best performances. If the finishing was a little better, we would have a completely different result today.

But United tried this in the CL final with a 2 man central midfield of Carrick and Giggs and got totally outpassed. United’s striker’s, particularly Hernandez, barely got a touch of the ball and it was like Barca were playing with an extra two men on the pitch all game.

thenamestsam on January 26, 2012 at 7:44 pm

United may have technically been in 442 in that game, but they mostly played much more in the typical style of trying to clog the middle against Barca. Rooney spent a lot of the game tucking into the midfield trailing Busquets, and starting Park instead of Nani was clearly a concession to trying to clog things up rather than conceding the middle in exchange for dominating the wings. They also failed to press throughout the match, which makes the attacking players much less useful defensively and surely dooms such a strategy. Basically they caught were somewhere between the two viable approaches and ended up with nothing.

Scott on January 27, 2012 at 3:42 am

I agree with thenamestsam there. United was typically playing a 4-5-1 in that game with Rooney dropping deep to help out Carrick and Giggs (esp. when Park occasionally drifted to the wing). United was ultimately destroyed because they couldn’t keep up the pressing they showed in the first 15 minutes (Probably has something to do with Gigg’s and Carrick’s age). In the first 15 minutes I actually thought we had a chance to win it. After the first 15 minutes I knew we would lose. We didn’t have the stamina to keep up the pressing and we didn’t have the technical ability to build like Barca during those odd spells in which we had possession.

ELDV on January 26, 2012 at 12:54 am

Mourinho’s tactics were spot on, and this was certainly one of the best recent clasicos. But it was also one of the worst Barcelona performances there has been in a long time. At several times during the match they struggled to get their passes going, which is obviously very unusual. While maybe a lot of this could be put down to a bad day at this office/complacency after an away win, a lot of this must go down to Jose’s instructions, and as you say, particularly the pressing game – an area in which Ronaldo has added another feather to his already well-decorated bow, he is simply tireless

Mourinho has once again shown that he knows what he’s doing against Barcelona, and in what could be a critical time for him has delivered with a good performance that deserved better from his players

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 6:44 am

“Mourinho has once again shown tha he knows what he’s doing against Barca..” ?

Granted Madrid played very well and just barely missed getting the win this time. But this is the only time Madrid under Mourinho has been able to impose themselves upon Pep’s Barca (in the 9 times they’ve gone head-to-head). No only has Barca won convincingly in most duels against Madrid (5 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss), but Mourinho and his men have looked lost and desperate in those past games except this one.

So can’t really say he constantly knew (or knew once again) what to do against Barca, but more like he got it right for the first time, and did not have much choice but to be proactive (otherwise I think he would have used 7 defenders under an ultra defensive approach). The tactical novice has more often than not usurped the self-proclaimed special one, to the point of utter humiliation.

Footballfan on January 26, 2012 at 3:57 pm

Actually to be fair this is not the first time Mourinho showed how to beat Barca. In the Copa Del Rey final, Mourinho got his tactics spot on and beat Barca, who were unable to play their usual game and only had a few pockets of brilliance at best. In the 2009-2010 UCL season Mourinho was the first coach to beat Barcelona with a convincing margin, especially when they seemed invincible. I agree that throughout this season, Mourinho has been experimenting with tactics against Barca, but his record speaks out that he, along with Bielsa and Guus Hiddink are the only few coaches who know how to beat Barca

Engineer on January 26, 2012 at 12:55 am

That was a quick report. Must be hard to enjoy watching games while concentrating on writing up points for the report.

Anyway, Madrid were unfortunate again. I really feel bad for Mourinho but I guess his time at Madrid up against Barcelona will humble and make him an even better manager.

The third consecutive match in which Madrid have nearly outplayed Barcelona and especially that first half in which Kaka, Ozil, Ronaldo and Higuain were just playing some free flowing football through the Barca back line. At least this time they didn’t seem so deflated after Barcelona scored.

Cesar on January 26, 2012 at 7:06 am

Not sure what you mean by “nearly outplayed” Barca. Real Madrid did not by any stretch of the imagination get close to outplaying Barca in the first two of those games, but I would argue that they did outplay them this game. Pep will need to very clinically examine this game to figure out how to stop making those mistakes, and be relieved that they made it through.

Aidan on January 26, 2012 at 12:56 am

Higuain certainly should have scored but he’s still very clinical he has a better goals to shots ratio than anyone in the top leagues and this isn’t the first time that has happened. Altough he doesn’t shoot from range much. As good as a shot as ronaldo has due to his nature he’ll never have a particularly poor conversion rate but van persie’s is also poor. Personally as good as RVP is I wouldn’t be my first choice also the fact that he has picked up so many injuries (even though he hasn’t really had a serious one in a while) and most of the big players who have failed at madrid is because they get injured and whoever replaces them gets in too good form to be dropped which would certainly happen with the current strikers. If I had a choice id pick an older target man for when there pushing for games and the other team is defending deep. Also van persie is better when he can drop off alot which wouldn’t be that advantages to madrid

Joao on January 26, 2012 at 7:16 pm

Pipita most likely cost Madrid the game. I really wouldnt be surprised if he is sold in the summer and another striker brought in. He is a very good league striker, he will score that goal in games when its almost 1-0 against Mayorca. Big games he never delivers. I think RVP might coming to the Bernabeau exited

Shere Khan on January 26, 2012 at 12:57 am

Possibly the game of the season so far. I thought Madrid massively missed Di Maria, while Kaka is still a good player when he plays Ozil has to play outside and hence is less effective. Real Madrid really need to sign a new wide player in the summer, most likely Eden Hazard, and if they do then I can imagine them matching Barcelona. They weren’t far of here but just needed their strikers to play a little better. I can’t believe that with all the money Real Madrid have spent in the last 2 years the only wingers they signed were Ronaldo and Di Maria (Does Callejon count? He seems to prefer it up front).

All in all I feel Mourinhio is finally closing the gap, the super cup showed they weren’t far off. They seem to perform better away from home, as a counter attacking team. In their last 3 cup games at the Nou Camp they’ve drawn 2 and lost 1 to an injury time winner. if they can be a bit braver at home (where they have 2 lossses and a draw in the reverse fixtures) they could really match Barcelona (a 0-0 at home might work too).

You’ve missed the point, that all this draw were beneficial for Barcelona. As it was today.

Msta on January 26, 2012 at 1:52 am

So how should have Barca played then? Maximizing posession, slowing the tempo, avoiding giving the ball too easy and too high on the pitch, or the contrary- hit Real high and hard, increasing momentum and concentrating solely on looking for breakthrough and a killing goal? Preferably the first option, IMO. They didn’t do neither of these correctly, though

Pozdrawiam Polaka tak w ogóle

Msta on January 26, 2012 at 12:57 am

As a Real Madrid fan I’m really, deeply impressed by their display. Credit should go both to players, showing great ambition, and Mourinho too- going 4-4-2ish was something new, and apparently it did work against this particular Barca formation, alongside with high pressing. It shows that Mou surely won’t let us forget about him, in the age of Pep’s tactical innovations with his side. Arbeloa was another guy who surprised me- disciplined, brave positionally as the diagram shows, I couldn’t expect better performance.

As proud as I can be as a fan, I’m aware of our problems. Playing in such a way backfired in a way that Messi- who was kept quiet, more or less, in previous Clasicos- had too much space this time, and therefore contributed to a goal. And a second problem- efficiency. You just can’t win any game being so wasteful in front of goal. But that’s not really a tactics-referred thing.

And, last but not least… I just cannot help myself about mentioning referees’ work. It’s a disgrace for such brilliant matches. Not only Ramos disallowed goal, also Diarra’s reckless tackles, with whitch he should end this match before half time, controversial situations inside Blaugrana’s penalty area, imaginary offside for Pedro…

But anyway, a great match, a joy to watch, and to analyze, too. Thanks, ZM

Ryan on January 26, 2012 at 2:56 am

Ramos got Alves down by pulling his arm to the ground, thus getting the space to head in the goal. How in Heaven’s name is that a negative for the ref? Fair enough about Lass not seeing red, but it does seem that Mou’s rants have worked in making referees hesitant to brandish red when it’s mid-game.

David L. on January 26, 2012 at 4:00 am

Ramos’ pull-down of Alves was fairly clear. You can’t blame Ramos for trying to get away with one, and you can’t blame the ref for doing his job there.

Lass’ non red was a bit much, especially because Messi had been booked for a lesser challenge just moments earlier.

I thought Alves could have been booked at some point for persistent infringement.

I’m sure the players were wondering what was a foul and what wasn’t a foul, because there was a lot of inconsistency out there and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with the color of players’ shirts.

Kevan on January 26, 2012 at 8:41 pm

I think a lot of fouls went unpunished, including Puyols terrible tackle on Benzema towards the end of the game — i thought that was the worst tackle on the night. Anyways was the best match of the year and maybe Ozil coming into the center from the left with Abidal scared to track him is the best way to utilize him instead of deploying him in the center with busquets ready to mark him out.

MMT on January 26, 2012 at 1:09 am

If tactics include player psychology, then Mourinho failed yet again. There are two RM’s–one the presses hard, moves the ball quickly, and attacks well; and one that can’t handle the errant bad calls (and what game doesn’t have them), the (un)lucky breaks, and the bit of brilliance that Messi brings to the pitch even on his bad days. A mentally stronger team would have beaten Barca rather convincingly today, I think.

Ronnie Day on January 26, 2012 at 1:10 am

Tactical victory for Mourinho !!!!!!!!!!!

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 6:48 am

By not winning and once again getting beaten by Barca (and coping out of the only cup Mourinho has won against Barca)…? U must be joking

Jacob on January 26, 2012 at 1:17 am

Interesting to see that after drawing once, getting beaten twice (three times if you count the Super Copa), Real Madrid fans are now saying they are catching up. I really would be wary of drawing too far-reaching conclusions from this match.

Barca lost Iniesta incredibly early, giving the tactical advantage to Mourinho – Pedro simply haven’t been a threat this season at all, and despite the goal, he wasn’t in this game either. This changed Barca’s gameplan (going from a midfielder-turning-winger-turning-creator to a simple winger), but against better opponents they usually fare rather poorly for the first 15-20 minutes, so this isn’t new per se. As the home side matured into the game, they managed to control Madrid, close down space and finish the half with two goals. What this review seems to be missing is not a tactical point, but rather that Barca came out to the second half with the foot off the gaspedal. This was really what turned this match into a terrible one for barcelona, not the substitutions – barcelona were very poor from minute 45, seeming like they believed the victory was already at hand. Similar displays have seen them give away points away on the road this season in the league.

Also, Barcelonas passing today was way under their standard, and on top of this Madrid managed to make it even more difficult for them by pressuring really well.

I would also say the depth of the Barcelona squad was really shown today. Taking Cesc off for Thiago is – despite his talent – simply a step down in a match of this calibre, and I’ve already covered Pedro. Barcelona simply didn’t have the weaponry to respond tonight, especially given the fact that two of the three changes were forced upon them. That Madrid on the other hand can put Granero and the seemingly always excellent Benzema on without losing steam is a testament to their squads versatility.

While this really was a decent performance from Real Madrid, and one of their best in the classicos, I would say most of it come from Barca being forced to change gameplan early – Pedro was dealt with by Arbeloa more or less – and being extremely reactive in the second half.

Quite funny, Real Madrid’s fans are proud, because they are out by Copa del Rey, but at least people don’t laugh at them. As Barca fan I have never thaught I will be witness of such way of thiniking in Madrid;) Anyway, it was superb match by Real, first, because offensive player played great game in tackling and receiving a ball, second, because Real hold a line very high and albeit few misatkes, they colud stop Alexis (what a poor match by him).
Also it was a lot of bad ball touches by Pep’s team, even where players weren’t attack by Madrid, and a lack of long pases by Messi, which he made in manita for example, where Real played witha a high line too. But in the other hand, Barca, especially in second half, had so much space in the middlle, that shame on them they didn’t use it.

In my humble opinion, Barca isn’t such good in counteratack, as so called “the best team in the world” should be. So maybe the sensible tactitc is to take a risk with theese Barca’s counterattacks and try to play very ofensive football. If you play with a bus in front the penalty area, you will probably lost, as Real lost one week ago.

Alex on January 26, 2012 at 1:58 am

Madrid fans are not proud “because they are out by [should be from] Copa del Rey, but at least people don’t laugh at them.” Madrid players sent a very strong message today and if you can’t see that you are an idiot.

galopujący major on January 26, 2012 at 2:18 am

Yeap, I have heard about strong message after Super Copa, I have heard about strong message in november when Ramos wanted play immediately, and now I am hearing about strong message from Arbeola, who just can’t wait for another Classico. Last year I have heard about strong message from Ronaldo after Barca had won 8-0 with Ossausna. Every time I have heard abut strong message, the finish looks this same. Well, I’ll wait, when Real will be play against Valdes not Pinto, hopefully against Iniesta, especially in second half and with really high pressure, not as yesterday, when they had nothing to lose. And after that, I will ask about strong message. So far there was 10 games and Madrid has won just one. But they still produce a strong messages. Poor Madrid fans, good in strong messages, but not in football.

Mohsin on January 26, 2012 at 2:25 am

You need a place to hide after Madrid wins the UCL and La Liga this year.

But this was advantage, Kaka pressing was really good, and Coentrao didn’t give so much gift as Marcelo (first semifinal last year).

Real fan on January 27, 2012 at 7:24 am

Personally I don’t miss marcelo at all, he looks more like a second rate winger than an effective full-back.

David L. on January 26, 2012 at 2:23 am

“Very strong message?” What might that be?

“If we play you 10 times, we’ll manage to look good for large stretches of one whole match…”

I’m sure Madrid’s players were not trying to send a message; they were trying to win, and they failed. Again.

Moral victories are for the fans.

schuster on January 26, 2012 at 2:29 am

and you play for barça? you are a fan too! it seems like you making comment after your shower in camp nou.

Mohsin on January 26, 2012 at 2:38 am

Ok let me spell it out for you since u seem to not get it.

Madrid is the most watched, most followed club in the world. Every move they make and every word they say is analyzed and over analyzed many times.

They have been losing to Barca for a while because Barca is truly a once in a generation team and in the past few years no team in the world has been even close to them.

They were under a lot of pressure going into this game. From their fans, the media, and their board of directors.

They also have been experiencing a psychological disadvantage since the 5-0 which often prevents them from playing to their full potentioal against Barca.

Now, put all of that together and add in a dominating first half which turns around in the last few minutes and they go down 2-0.

Now try to imagine how much pressure all players were under when the second half started and how disappointed they must have felt.

To come back and make it 2-2 considering all of the above against arguably the best team in history of football AND to almost win the game had it not been for such a biased ref and some back luck IS A STRONG MESSAGE.

Get it?

Anonymous on January 26, 2012 at 2:18 pm

Nope… because the message doesnot include a subject line which says “DIARRA SHOULD BE SENT OFF”. Did you get that memo by any chance?

Gino on January 26, 2012 at 2:25 am

I thought the “Strong Message” was sent in super cup… all the talk about being at par and then they lost to games at home 1-3 and 1-2 with pathetic performances. now RM has played an OK game, but it’s more that Barca didn’t do what they always Do. I have never seen xavi miss some much in a game.

Raoul on January 26, 2012 at 1:51 am

Barca played the worst game of the season(tactics from Pep and players on the field) and Madrid played their best game against Barca, and still Madrid could not win.
Just an observation.

Mohsin on January 26, 2012 at 2:01 am

Fear is the driving force behind your “observation.”

schuster on January 26, 2012 at 2:27 am

we all can win with “external” helps.

Ryan on January 26, 2012 at 3:01 am

Yes, Lass not seeing red really helped Barca! I imagine getting two of their players injured also was a boon for the blaugrana.

Gino on January 26, 2012 at 8:23 pm

“External help” You are a sore loser who is desperate and have a selective memory. You forgot about the first game? it was a week ago. To begin with, Pepe shouldn’t have played, and won’t mention the bunch of other calls, because it is a was of time…

“There is no worst blind man, than the one who does not want to see”

Of course at night when you’re sleeping you’re dreaming of RM winning, BUT then you open your eyes and you LOSE yet again. you have to resort to conspiracies and all to keep going… LOL

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 11:14 am

Touché

Yang on January 26, 2012 at 1:59 am

If Drogba type forward available in current market, Real could do with him. Chelsea fought well against Barcelona because good physical midfielders and exceptional One-top forward Drogba. Higuain is not consistent enough I think.

United feeble two men midfielder contribute big time to Barcelona’s legendary CL run. Need to think about how to skip midfield battle with Barcelona.

max on January 26, 2012 at 2:46 am

CAVANI

Ryan on January 26, 2012 at 3:02 am

Valdes was absolutely massive vs. Drogba, and has actually improved in the years since. Probably not the best option for Real right now.

Vegas on January 26, 2012 at 2:05 am

Ozil ripped Abidal to pieces tonight. Cannot count how many times he went past him, such raw dribbling ability reminding me of Cryuff in his prime. The dribbles Ozil made were crucial – they allowed him to go through Barcelona’s “ozone” layer (call it that) and expose the defense!

Granero coming on for Diarra seemed a logical substitution but Granero misplaced passes, seemed short of form and on top of that, seemed temperamental!

felix on January 26, 2012 at 2:33 am

granero was really out of shaped. but we need to give a lot of credit to a player that probably play 1 or 2 games and helps his team in one of the most difficult stadiums in the world

Gino on January 26, 2012 at 2:11 am

You can only be so brave when you got nothing to lose, or when you stand to lose more than you can live with.

Mourihno, would’ve never played like that if it was a final or if it was the first leg. Because it’s SUICIDE.

felix on January 26, 2012 at 2:37 am

mourinho won 2 champions leagues. how much do you have? great bravery…

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 11:18 am

Guardiola was a professional player when Mourinho was coaching Chelsea after his maiden Champions league trophy. But Pep in his 3 years of coaching has equalled Mourinho’s CL record (2 cups) and relatively won a lot more leagues and host of other cups in such a short time…! . What did Mourinho win in his first year of coaching? Second year? (truth hurts )

Diverinho on January 26, 2012 at 1:17 pm

The question is if Guardiolo will ever manage to be a successful manager at another club than Barcelona. Guardiola at Barca had the advantage, that he took over an already very well established and functioning club and team, with a lot of outstanding players. Granted he did and is doing an outstanding job at Barcelona, but only when he goes somewhere else one will be able to compare. Mourinho, in contrast, has had three clubs where he basically started from zero each time, and was very successful with them. With a bit more of luck even with Chelsea he would have won the CL. Now, Real is his 4th new team, and he is doing relatively well, at least better than his predecessors. If he manages to take Liga and/or CL this year one will have to call his Madrid time very successful as well.
As an example, I’d be interested how Guardiola would do at Arsenal or at City, if he got a job there next season. Or at Bayern or at ManU…

brandao on January 26, 2012 at 5:27 pm

no…thats not the question. the FACT is simply clear. guardiola has won more trophies. PERIOD. u cant play fantasy manager.. “if roy keane played in midfield for madrid against barca with puskas as manager they would surely defeat barca” its crazy hypotheticals. Pep has clearly won the battle (so far) against Mou and Madrid.

“he took over an already very well established and functioning club and team”

You forget, the year before Pep took over Barca they won 0 trophies. They were THIRD in La Liga, TEN points behind Villareal and EIGHTEEN points behind Madrid.

The year Pep took over, they won the league by 9 points over Madrid. They won tons and tons of trophies.

When Barca last won a CL before Pep, think of the final. This was their starting XI:
Valdés; Oleguer, Márquez, Puyol, van Bronckhorst; Edmílson. Deco, van Bommel; Giuly, Ronaldinho, Eto’o

Subs: Iniesta, Belletti, Larsson

When Barca won the CL in Pep’s first season, this was their starting XI:
Valdés; Puyol, Yaya Touré, Piqué, Sylvinho; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Messi, Henry, Eto’o

subs: Pedro, Keita

As you can see, their only unchanged players were Valdes, Eto’o and Puyol. Iniesta played in both, though he was a sub in the first.

The team Pep inherited and conquered Europe with was a team with lots of talent, good prospects, and the budding greatest player in the world. But it was hardly a finished product. They had come off a terrible year, and were a completely different squad than the one that had won the CL a few years before.

Pep deserves WAY more credit.

Diverinho on January 26, 2012 at 8:01 pm

Hey hey, no question about Pep being a great manager. Probably the best Barcelona has ever had. What I wanted to say is that he took over a club which he knew, since he played there, and he knew the philosophy of it. In that sense he did not start from zero. I simply would be interested to see what Pep’s approach would be at another club.

AOJDS on January 26, 2012 at 1:38 pm

I think its hard to compare, Although I think Mourinho won a league in his second year coaching, i guarantee he would have won SOMETHING if he was coaching Barcelona! come on!!

I think Mou is a great manager, but what do you mean he “he would have won something coaching Barca”? How can you guarantee that?

Remember, the Barca Pep inherited had finished third in the league, losing to Real by 18 points. And we know how that turned out.

By contrast, the Madrid Mou inherited had finish second by a mere 3 points. He did win a cup, to be fair. But I don’t think you can guarantee he would have done nearly as well.

manuel maria santos on January 26, 2012 at 2:18 am

great game and a great response from mourinho to capello, the press, fans, etc.
barcelona look a little insecure when real was pressing very high and they lost the ball way too muuch. i really think that madrid can win barcelona with a high intense pressure, a good passing game, with the alternative direct play that sometimes work with ronaldo.
one think i´m admired is that madrid never scored a goal from set pieces to barcelona.
by the way, this real madrid with a good right back (maicon, kyle walker, di silvestri, micah richards) and a strong midfielder (essien, schweinsteiger, de rossi) could be much more dangerous to barcelona.

FCB X on January 26, 2012 at 8:16 am

Sergio Ramos?? Xabi Alonso???

schuster on January 26, 2012 at 2:20 am

a right back, a midfielder and a good striker. higuain miss to many goals…and he is selfish. Cavani!

Clarence on January 26, 2012 at 2:21 am

Guardiola was too stuborn, he shall use Mascherano immediately after Madrid used a 4-4-2.

Gino on January 26, 2012 at 2:27 am

this was a warning and RM didnt win. Now they’ll have to find another way, because Guardiola already knows about this, and it won’t let it happen again for next clasico.

maybe in Champions.. ?

repsy on January 26, 2012 at 2:40 am

guardiola is a good coach, but he has a great team. usually i don´t se barcelona adapt to circumstances because they are so dominant. today they were obligated to do, and guardiola was not so flexible in his aproach during the game.

brandao on January 26, 2012 at 5:36 pm

FIRST..barca clearly defined football philosophy sort of locks them in to a certain way of playing that doesnt have a whole lot of varience…

with that said…the depolyment of dani alves either on the wing or in his RB position as well as the use of messi and fabregas as either CF/fasle 9/false 10 are the major ways that guardiola alters his side to play to the competition. because of the versatility of almost every player in the team its not necessary to always make squad changes to play in a (slightly) different way.

JimmyGuitarist on January 26, 2012 at 2:39 am

I know you’re reluctant in mentioning things what arn’t to do with tactics, but Madrid played like bloody animals. How they didn’t have at least 4 players sent off, I don’t know. Ramos’ red card on that specific occasion didn’t deserve a red, but he could have, and should have been sent off mid-way through the first half.
And I don’t really know why lots think Madrid totally deserved to win. In my opinion, Madrid did there usual thing for first few minutes and went for a few longish shots, and then Barca dominated the first half. They didn’t just have 5 minutes like you said. They were totally in control and it paid off with 2 good goals. Second half, they played good but they didn’t deserve the win. They paid the price for playing so defensively at there home ground.

Mohsin on January 26, 2012 at 2:40 am

Madrid is the most watched, most followed club in the world. Every move they make and every word they say is analyzed and over analyzed many times.

They have been losing to Barca for a while because Barca is truly a once in a generation team and in the past few years no team in the world has been even close to them.

They were under a lot of pressure going into this game. From their fans, the media, and their board of directors.

They also have been experiencing a psychological disadvantage since the 5-0 which often prevents them from playing to their full potentioal against Barca.

Now, put all of that together and add in a dominating first half which turns around in the last few minutes and they go down 2-0.

Now try to imagine how much pressure all players were under when the second half started and how disappointed they must have felt.

To come back and make it 2-2 considering all of the above against arguably the best team in history of football AND to almost win the game had it not been for such a biased ref and some back luck IS A STRONG MESSAGE.

max on January 26, 2012 at 2:44 am

what really is a shame is the diving and cheating of busquets, daniel alves and messi.
they are very protected by the referee. barça doesn´t need this type of stuff.
football is a game for men. not for pussys. if you want small and weak people in a sport try table tenis.

JimmyGuitarist on January 26, 2012 at 2:56 am

Barca players diving? You didn’t watch this game.

madrid magico on January 26, 2012 at 3:00 am

are you kidding me? they should be in a swimming competition

Anonymous on January 26, 2012 at 2:34 pm

Yeah… because Madrid plays Rugby and they want to dominate that sport so of course you are recommending a different sport to maintain your supremacy.

pepito on January 26, 2012 at 3:04 am

I´m from barça and i know they we´re all “swimmers” when real scored the second goal. We were really missing that Iniesta “in and out” or “stretch or shrink” that he does. We miss Valdes passing skills as well. But we won!

Ryan on January 26, 2012 at 3:03 am

Madrid injured both Iniesta and Alexis and yet you claim they were diving? How many physical fouls and injuries must happen before you realize those are actual fouls on the field?

master on January 26, 2012 at 3:07 am

injured? Iniesta as an injury in his femoral biceps… That´s a muscular injury. It´s not an Injury made from Physical Contact. Is from having 5 inches and weight 100 pounds. tiki taka is for girls

locuscontrol on January 26, 2012 at 3:09 am

A football match is a physical game. Not a girly volleyball with no contact.

You should play handball or rugby to see what physical contact really is.

Gino on January 26, 2012 at 8:52 pm

ha ha ha Lol..

There’s nothing better than seeing the “smaller and apparently weaker man beat the hell out of the tough bad boy” now that’s special !!

Messi, Inesta, Xavi, are world class players. and tiki taka (Spain) are the world cup champions in SA)

I’m a big 6′3” 200lbs man, played American football. And Barca players are super athletes. I’m American and we play tough Football… but I love Barca… so much fun.

dear ryan:
we know that you are small and fragile, but sport is for strong guys, not for ballet dancers.
you should try to workout a little, and by the way, invite iniesta too.

you´re such a faggott

Clarence on January 26, 2012 at 4:04 am

Fuck that, if the ref did his job Lass will be dismissed in the first half

Dingo man on January 26, 2012 at 8:47 am

Your family made a rapist named frannio, fat fat frannio, and he was too dumb to stop being himself

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 3:51 pm

Hehe. Which match did you watch by the way?

What millions of others saw: pepe screaming n crying like a girl when you pussy messi fouled him, heh. Cristina Ronaldo tearin his make-up and cute face apart with girly anguish when barca scored their first goal. (thank god di Maria didn’t play, otherwise the oscars would have come early!

Of course when a billion dollar colllection of bought “stars” headed by the “special one” lose every time to a homegrown footballing team coached by a normal humble manager, it’s gotta hurt so bad that only way to survive is to twist reality and facts! Hehe.

sam on January 27, 2012 at 4:39 am

Messi a diver? Put down the crack pipe and go watch some youtube. It’s simultaneously depressing and hilarious that some Madrid fans don’t understand that if you play on the edge of violence you are going to get cards. Do you really think that Lass’ hack on Messi didn’t merit a second yellow? Let’s not even talk about Pepe, Ramos, and Carvalho’s displays over the past few years against Barcelona. Here’s a taste of how Madrid won the CDR last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-k8NNeb3Kk

Too bad you weren’t around in 1863 at the FA meetings where the ground rules for football were being laid down. I’m sure you would have been a vocal supporter for hacking (“a game for men. not for pussys”) The following from Wikipedia:

“The Cambridge rules differed from the draft FA rules in two significant areas; namely running with (carrying) the ball and hacking (kicking opposing players in the shins). The two contentious FA rules were as follows:

IX. A player shall be entitled to run with the ball towards his adversaries’ goal if he makes a fair catch, or catches the ball on the first bound; but in case of a fair catch, if he makes his mark he shall not run.

X. If any player shall run with the ball towards his adversaries’ goal, any player on the opposite side shall be at liberty to charge, hold, trip or hack him, or to wrest the ball from him, but no player shall be held and hacked at the same time.
—[78][79]

At the fifth meeting it was proposed that these two rules be removed. Most of the delegates supported this, but F. M. Campbell, the representative from Blackheath and the first FA treasurer, objected. He said: “hacking is the true football”.”

madrid magico on January 26, 2012 at 2:55 am

barcelona should renamed FARSELONA or whistlelona

forget the tactics. they play with 14 players everytime

Anonymous on January 26, 2012 at 8:24 pm

Yes, yes. Last game, 4 clearly wrong offside calls in the FIRST half, and some more in the second half, ALL of them in situations were goals for Barcelona were quite probable. This game, 30+ god damn Madrid fouls plus plenty more not called due to advantadge or being out of play, only 1 player red carded and 8 yellow carded. I certainly see something at least unusual here, don’t you agree? Remember repeated offense gets yellow carded and there are 10 outfield players (not counting the GK, obviously). There were more wrong offside calls this game. I’m pretty sure you get my point.

I’m not a Barcelona fan but the mentality Mourinho puts in his players is despicable, seriously.

qaz on January 26, 2012 at 3:05 am

who knew a basic 4-4-2 would be the way to counter Barcelona? great analysis.

FCB X on January 26, 2012 at 8:19 am

It was a 4-2-4 actually. Concede the center and push men up front. Brilliant move by MouMou.

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 3:53 pm

Of course…. Only that guardiola has been doing it (4-2-4, and many variations) for past few years with success n Mou baby learning from the newbie haha. Gotta really hurt.

culé_gay on January 26, 2012 at 3:15 am

cULÉS are all gays. Cataluna is a gay paradise with the girlish iniesta and the actor sergi busquets.

barcelona are a shame

Dingo man on January 26, 2012 at 8:29 am

Shame on the fat boy. We all know who you are, what you’re really like. Kill yourself. Shame to do what you did.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:45 pm

dingo man suck my fat dick..by the way tell your mom that i´m gonna pay her for that lousy blowjob. that stupid woman swallow all my jizz and almost got choked

el primo on January 26, 2012 at 1:00 pm

I think this blog is about football tactics. If you have psychological issues maybe you should seek help elsewhere.

I agree with the analysis, but Real looked just as good in the two SuperCopa games. With a full and fit starting eleven, they can cause havoc against anyone. And Coentrao has looked great on either defense flank.

malkin on January 26, 2012 at 3:20 am

coentrão was probably the best left back in europe in the last season. he is great but he is still adapting to another reality

and by the way messi sucks..he is such a pussy…always diving

Fizan on January 26, 2012 at 3:57 pm

Haha. Madrid supporters have so low expectations of their star studded team that when they even manage to draw and get beaten out of the tie, they celebrate it like a victory. Kinda like a 3rd division tea, mentality. Can’t blame them: shit players, idiot for a coach! heh

barcelona on January 26, 2012 at 3:18 am

barcelona is a great city, but with awfull people with a cheating team and an argentinian gay midget as an idol.

malkin on January 26, 2012 at 3:22 am

messi, the gay midget

lolololol

Dingo man on January 26, 2012 at 8:33 am

Fatso, the fat liar. Shiny face from the popcorn butter, good luck getting someone to like you fatso

english_people_suck on January 26, 2012 at 3:25 am

barcelona and brittish people are cocksuckers

the best is turkish people!!!!!

OZIL

better than Lampard, Gerrard, Cleverly and Wilshere

messi on January 26, 2012 at 3:26 am

my name is messi and i like to be buttfucked by pep guardiola.

messi= gay midget

Dingo man on January 26, 2012 at 8:35 am

Your sloppy rape of children is going to get you killed! Or worse…expelled.

supermadridsta on January 26, 2012 at 3:19 pm

Ahaaaa, he has been exposed.
Dingo you 10 year old Barca fanboy stop quoting Harry Potter, this is the real world, not Hogwarts , the dementors here can really stick a wand up the plumbing.

kanne on January 26, 2012 at 3:32 am

a draw for madrid is like a victory. i think we should discuss about tactic…

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:34 pm

i think you´re mother sucks dicks and swallow jizz

Iason on January 26, 2012 at 3:39 am

Madrid played a very good game, and Barcelona played a very bad game. Result is a very close encounter which Barcelona was probably lucky not to lose. Sure, Madrid’s pressure is probably a big reason in Barcelona struggling, but it was more self-destruction. Simple passes going astray, slowing play up during a clear counter opportunity, speeding play up when patience was needed, and just a couple of horrible individual performances. Abidal was torn up by Ozil. Pique, like many times this season, was bad. Overall Barcelona seemed arrogant. They tried to conserve energy, and ended up paying for it by being forced to run more than they would have if they had started the game with more intent. Real were impressive, but they left LOADS of space available to exploit. On a regular day, you can bet Barcelona would have took advantage and scored 3 or 4 with ease. As it was, every time Busquets/Xavi got the ball in this big amount of space, they slowed down and played it back.

I know I should not mention the ref, but I can’t refrain. I DO believe that the ref has a big impact on the game if he doesn’t do his job. The second half might have been very different if Diarra got his deserved red. The ref clearly knew it was a foul worthy of a second yellow, but he didn’t want to send him off. I won’t blame the refs for the two wrong offside calls against Pedro and Sanchez, but it still impacted the game. And I do believe the ref was right to cancel Ramos’ goal. It was just stupid by Ramos – he probably would have won the header all the same if he didn’t make that stupid foul. Alves might have been able to stay up, but he has every right to go down to earn his foul if he is being impeded in any way.

Pepe was hilarious to watch, this guy is a joke. Which is a shame, because he is a decent defender. But man, if the extreme physicality wasn’t bad enough before, now he has added diving that Busquets from 2009 would have laughed at.

Who else thinks Pique should be given a chance to play as a Striker? With Ineista, Villa, Sanchez, and Afellay injured, and with Pique playing just horribly at CB, I would like to see Pique upfront. It isn’t a coincidence that every time Pique goes forward, there is danger. Pep is also looking for a 9 who can occupy the CBs and push them deep. He has tried it recently with Sanchez, and earlier in the season he was playing Villa a lot in the middle. Also, with Barcelona’s passing seemingly a little off, a long ball to Pique seems like the best way to relieve the pressure. In all likelihood Pique will never get the chance to play as a 9, but right now I still prefer Mascherano to him as a CB.

jdw on January 26, 2012 at 6:32 am

Agree with you on the ref.

The lack of red on Lass was mind numbing. In turn, for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what Cassilas got one for: he rushed out to back players away from the ref. It was largely Barca players, but also a number of Madrid players as the swarm of bees buzzed the ref. He’s the captain, he should have more right to be there in the discussion more than the half dozen Barca players (with the exception of Puyol) and 3-4 Madrid players around. Bizzare.

Ramos also had quite a few fouls from behind that one expected him to get a guard for just how consistently he was hacking. Instead he got his first one for mouthing off. There wasn’t much to his second red, but after all the other hacks and the pulling down of Alves on the goal pulled out of the net, I didn’t have a lot of sympathy.

The person I watch the game with cracked a joke that it was surprising that it took so long for Pepe to get a card… which was repeated 30 seconds later by Phil on GolTV. I wonder what % of the non-Madridista viewers were thinking the same thing. My guess would be 70%+.

The blown offsides weren’t good.

On the other side, I seem to recall Alves had a pair of hacks within a minute that it was surprising that he didn’t get a card on the second one.

Chippy game. If there are three more Classicos and Real fails to pull off the big one, things are going to boil over ugly by the end.

Elsa on January 26, 2012 at 7:30 am

From my point of view, Cassilas did a very good job as a captain there. I think he realized that Lass should get a card and seeing so many Madrid players swarming the ref, he then brush them aside in order to prevent them “brainwashed” the ref. Then maybe he added with a little indiscipline act or word so the ref, instead of giving the card to Lass, is giving him the card. Then maybe after giving the seemingly unfair card to Madrid’s captain, the ref got a little bit reluctant to give Lass a card…aahhh imagination..hehe

Vlad on January 26, 2012 at 8:42 am

Very good point about Cassilas.

Elwood on January 26, 2012 at 8:45 am

Hey, this actually isn’t outside the realms of possibility… if Casillas did that on purpose, he’s a very smart man.

Dase on January 26, 2012 at 10:15 am

I disagree with you, after receiving the yellow card, Casillas blamed the referee, so i dont think that he forced that card just to save Lass.

AOJDS on January 26, 2012 at 1:42 pm

actually if you watch it again he didnt say anythign to the ref, he wasnt even takling to anyone just pushing players back

TheMiddleGround on January 26, 2012 at 3:08 pm

I thought the SAME THING. I had the immediate impression that he was coaxing the referee to choose the easiest option. Castillas must have known the call would be controversial one either way, and he presented an outlet for the ref.

I could imagine him thinking something along the lines, “If I complain, maybe he won’t card Lass. If he has me to card, maybe he won’t card Lass. But if he does card Lass, I’m safe. He surely isn’t going to card me as well, or people will go crazy on him. I might as well complain.” If this is indeed what Castillas thought, it was a clever bit of on-the-spot game theory.

There were a lot of tough, close calls in this match. I do think the referee missed a number of them. The punishments seemed rather inconsistent as well–for both sides.

Cogito on January 26, 2012 at 7:16 pm

Agree that Casillas was playing mind games with the ref. It worked, too.

His lack of response on Pedro’s goal because of a perceived offside was dumb though. Stop complaining about the ref and do your job (in the case of the Lass incident there was little risk of course, so it made sense).

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:40 pm

english people speaking about tactics is like angela merkel about economy…a total nightmare…
you try to be intelectual but it was wenger, benitez, mourinho and other that give you the tactic approach to the game.
you were lame, and got smashed by continental teams.

even now your great man utd drop to the europe cup, with man city..
tottenham was a shame, and arsenal and chelsea will be out in the quarters (like they usually does).

losers

VKD on January 26, 2012 at 3:48 am

This should have been you review of the first league Classico at Bernebeu except 4-4-2 modification.

Love your site and great work here.

Anup on January 26, 2012 at 3:55 am

How much of today’s Madrid performance was down to Barca being so poor? The number of misplaced passes (led to one of the goals as well) was unusually high by their standards… even by a lesser side’s standards, which is saying quite a lot about their performance tonight. Pinto in goal is not nearly the same as having Valdes in goal. Having said that it would have been interesting if this was the first leg and with the second leg to come. But then also begs the question if Mou would have played like this and barca would have been so lackadasical if this was the first leg? Enjoyable game… but the 1-3 in the league was a better game regardless of the result – lesser mistakes and players playing the systems as planned. what will be interesting is what does pep do if teams start to play this 4-2-4.

Kinny on January 26, 2012 at 9:32 am

I bet he’ll be inclined to push Busquets back to offer more defensive cover, 3-4-2-1. But this can be countered with very mobile strikers. I think more managers should look into the pre-season clash with Man.U where they played 4-4-2. Although it was pre season, it offers a lot of insights.

Clarence on January 26, 2012 at 4:06 am

Whoever criticized the ref for helping Barca, Fuck that, if the ref did his job properly Lass will be dismissed in the first half

I’m pretty new to football/fútbol mudial, and I’ve come to extremely appreciate the depth and clarity of the coverage here on this site. Even the responses to most the articles seem respectful, sharing in the passion for the game. It’s refreshing to see!
Thank you

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:42 pm

raymond fuck you

footballfans on January 27, 2012 at 10:58 am

another moudrid fans

oldblueboy53 on January 26, 2012 at 7:01 am

Timm you are right and I really like these debates. Apart from your thoughts Real were very very unlucky to have the first goal they scored dissalowed. Alvez should be banned for that dive as the ref was conned. It would have made a big difference to the outcome of this game believe me. The other thing I took from this game is that Kaka is finished and Di Maria is sorely missed. La Liga is now in our hands as Barcelona have extra Cup games and this will take its toll. Mourinho is a genius for his tactical shift in this game and the substitutions as well.

Fizan on January 27, 2012 at 6:41 am

Why is the tactical genius constantly getting beaten and outwitted by the novice? Hehe

lefthog on January 26, 2012 at 7:31 am

little amusing thing.
before the first leg, you heard all the talk about too many clasicos and I felt it too.

BUT

now I cant wait for the next one.

bobby on January 26, 2012 at 8:06 am

In my 1 and a half years of frequenting Zonal Marking, I’d say that this article’s comment section is the worst. Both sets of supporters should be ashamed of the representation they’ve received from the zealous idiots commenting here.

Thank you. Very true. Like i have commented, there should be bogus sites/blogs for such people.

Mike P on January 26, 2012 at 9:35 am

Thirded (see my rant on the subject below).

Masters Of The Universe on January 26, 2012 at 11:04 am

Agreed – Aren’t posts with abuse supposed to be held in the moderation queue? Great article (as always) but some pretty disgusting comments

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:43 pm

bobby make me a blowjob

kaneprior on January 26, 2012 at 8:20 am

Real Madrid were much better, a few points:
1/ Arbeloa was much better at RB, didnt let iniesta into the game, struggled more with pedro though.
2/ Pepe moving to the back improved the central defense no end.
3/Real pressed xavi and Busquets well, while alonso tracked Fabs runs into forward excellently.
4/ The downside was leaving messi free, which in the end was the reason for them drawing this game, he was a danger throughout.
5/ Ozil coming in the from the right seems a great tactical move to use against Barca, it means leaving abidal free but then he isnt much of a danger really, and it leads to Ozil and Kaka overloading Busquets in front of the defense, sort of like man city against parker.
6/ Ronaldo again played well against Alves, pushing him back this time, rather than tracking him then breaking, and was very dangerous.

The substitution to move ronaldo central proved a good move too, he and Benzema were excellent as a forward two.

For Barca, it was dissapointing they didnt try to get Alves forward more to stretch the play, him being defensive lead to ronaldo playing higher up the pitch, its a risk but one Barca usually take. Also Fabregas was disappointing as he didnt try to get on the ball and dictate the game, tyring to get forward too much really. While Sanchez found it much harder against Ramos and Pepe this time around.

Andaran on January 26, 2012 at 10:31 am

1/ I agree that Arbeloa played a very good game. He was solid in defense and was also good going forward and trying to string passes together in a confident way. Its particularly interesting knowing that Arbeloa has seemed so off colour the past few games looking lazy and unfit. Instead of a consistent Arbeloa we have seen a abysmal and an imperous one the last few games.

5/ Given that Özil for the most parts of his Real Madrid career has been anynomous when placed on the flank, it was very refreshing to see him thrive there. His initiative and ability to exploit space were finally put to good use. I fail to really point out what the tactical reasons behind his success was giving that he usually struggles finding space between the lines. Maybe he jsut had a good day as opposed to his perfomance against Bilbao where he looked frustrated from the start.

kaneprior on January 26, 2012 at 12:34 pm

The trick with Ozil in this game, was that Kaka did a great job at attacking midfield: pressing busquets and looking very dangerous. The attention on Kaka, meant Ozil found space (he is excellent at doing this) in the middle of the park where he can be dangerous (ala Silva moving inside). But this can only work if his team mates are making room for room for him and the opponents dont have an extremely attacking and dangerous LB (as Ozil wont track him).

I think the problem with using Ozil on the wing though, is that his best qualities are his creativity and off the ball movement, on the wing he would have to use his on the ball qualities a lot more, which arnt actually world class, so he isnt as effective.

Diverinho on January 26, 2012 at 4:06 pm

Maybe looking frustrated, Ozil was Real’s best player against Bilbao. He initiated Marcelo’s first goal, he provoked the second penalty (plus the red card against bilbao), scored himself a goal which was offside, and then opened the counter attack (pass to Higuain -> pass to Callejon) for the last goal of Callejon.
Sure, Ronaldo was also crucial due to taking and converting the two penalties…
I guess you should (re?)watch the bilbao match and have a closer look to ozil.

Anonymous on January 26, 2012 at 5:24 pm

You arr right Øzil played a good part in sine of the goals against Bilboa. But especially in the begining of the match he complained to the referee in a very unlike-Øzil manner. In that respect he seemed out of balance mentally which affected hus game. As it wore on he regained some of that balance and he seemed have found perfect mental balance coming into the classico putting on a real show.

On a similar note. Having witnessed Di Maria playing brilliantly as central attacking midfielder most notably against Sevilla. Do you think playing Angel there and Mesut on the flank, could be one of the keys to unlock Barcelona?

Diverinho on January 26, 2012 at 8:17 pm

The more Özil and DiMaria (and Ronaldo) keep swapping their positioning during a game the more they might confuse Barcelona’s (or any) defense, for sure.

JohN on January 26, 2012 at 8:33 am

Not Madrid or Barca fan, watched the game but after 2:2 it was just horrible…I have never seen so much diving on the field..Shame on you, Barca, you do it always, when you are going to lose or cant score…You did it against Inter, AC, Netherlands, etc…Diving pussies, no matter, how you play, they just dive, dive and dive.

Anonymous on January 26, 2012 at 9:01 am

Sanchez and Fabregas were actually injured by Pepe. And Lass should have been sent off at the first half. These barbarians from Madrid did not know how to play properly

JohN on January 26, 2012 at 9:52 am

In last Clasicos, Messi should have been sent off two times…he never got the second yellow card, no matter what he was doing on the field. Alvez should have been sent off too yesterday, he did 3 hard fauls from behind, didnt get even one yellow card..Fabregas should get a yellow card, and did not. Yop, but you see only Lass…Barca does the same shit fauls like Madrid, just look at the CDR matches and attacks on X. Alonso or Ozil, they could break him a leg, no yellow card again, so stop crying.

Barca have been diving for years, against Inter – Motta got red card, against AC – Xavi got penalty for free, then against RM in CL – Pepe even didnt touch Alvez, Busquets against Marcelo, Mascherano against Adebayor, Villa vs Ramos, I could countinue..

Barcelona is team of pussies, they dived long time ago before Real Madrid started to kick them.

Just look at the Mascherano and Fabregas, how solid players they were in Premier league and look at them now, they became diving pussies. Villa is the same case, never seen him dive so much in Valencia.

Your pussies from Barca dont know, how to play properly. IF THEY HAVE DIFFICULTY TO SCORE OR WIN, THEY ALWAYS START TO DIVE, doesnt matter, if this is in La Liga, Cup or CL.

kanne on January 26, 2012 at 10:06 am

cool bro, whatever your rant, it will never change the result..dont talk bad about others

brandao on January 26, 2012 at 6:01 pm

name a team or player that has never dived…or more aptly, exaggerated, a foul? u cant

micheal jordan (arguably the greatest athlete we all know) was one of the most petulant, complaining, exaggeraters on the court. that has no bearing on his ability or him being a ‘pussy’ or not. the same goes for messi fab dani ronaldo drogba di maria busquets…

its a part of the game..and its up to the refs to sanction it. simualtion is supposed to warrant a yellow.

pulling down an attacker as the last defender warrants a RED…that happened against barca…no red was shown.

whoever u are johN…ur just a bitter hater that cant accept the constant failure of madrid. or if u arent a madrid fan u just cant stand that ur team (probably full of ‘divers’ as well) dont enjoy the success of FCB…suck it up and enjoy the once in a history display

AOJDS on January 26, 2012 at 1:56 pm

Fabregas wasnt injured. And yes he dived

Kinny on January 26, 2012 at 9:23 am

There should be bogus blogs for people like you

Fizan on January 27, 2012 at 6:50 am

Are you sure you’re not a Madrid fan? Hehe. Unless people suffer from selective viewing (you see only what you want to see), millions who saw the match saw as much (or more) play-acting by Real players (eg., Pepe the ” brave” giant screaming n crying when Messi fouled him), and dirty fouling (Lass tackle on Messi fir which he would have been sent off except for Madrid players and coach always influencing refereeing decisions). Sure, Barca did their fair share of acting n fouling, but don’t expect everyone to be gullible and blind like some not-so-confident fans who wants to convince others by appearing to be neutral , heh. (clearly, factually n statistically, madrid n Mou are second best if they keep constantly getting beaten by Barca, whichever way you slic the cake )

Mike P on January 26, 2012 at 9:25 am

I don’t have Sky, so I was really looking forward to reading the review of the game this morning. Whilst the article itself is up to the usual high ZM standards, about half of the comments attached are ridiculous. I don’t know if they are actual comments or trolls or whatever else, but this is a football TACTICS website. If you want to discuss the tactics used in the game or debate how things could have been done differently, great. I don’t think that people chatting about potential signings strays too far from the point of the website, as a lot of the time such comments are linked to how these signings would be utilised in different systems, rather than “X is shit. Y would be much better than him.”.

However, comments such as “messi= gay midget”, which are posted by individuals whose allegiances are blantantly displayed by their usernames, have no place on this site. If you really want to exert the energy putting such nonsense on the internet, I’m sure there are plenty of websites filled with similar bile that you can visit.

When this website came along, it was a godsend: a tactics website with very high quality articles, and insightful tactical comment from the people who posted below the line. Now I worry that the comments are going the same way as football opinion in general: fans engaging in tribalistic mud slinging, resorting to calling opposition players “shit” rather than accepting that they were better on the day. Whilst I am still a firm fan of the work posted by ZM, both here and elsewhere, I don’t think I’ll bother with comments sections in future. It’s not worth the effort of wading through the water in search of the few genuine tactical nuggets held within.

Mike P on January 26, 2012 at 9:31 am

Now that I’ve posted this, I realise that all that’ll happen is people will reply to my comment with further examples of the kind of stupid comment that enraged me in the first place. Go ahead, you’ll just continue to make my point for me.

Anonymous on January 26, 2012 at 10:44 am

None replying so far….

Barca lover on January 26, 2012 at 11:41 am

Oh shut up, you cry baby, you are just upset that Barca are the best ever and Real are not.

A Rubbish Prussian on January 26, 2012 at 3:40 pm

Was about to post a comment saying almost exactly this. Here’s hoping it’s just the Clasico fallout, and most of them will move on to their fan forums of choice to continue the bickering.

Cogito on January 26, 2012 at 7:20 pm

Agreed. This has got to be the worst ZM comment section I’ve ever seen. Not that it’s the writers fault, he doesn’t pick his readers (and commenters!).

thenamestsam on January 26, 2012 at 8:47 pm

It always seems that the Classicos have the worst comment section. I think that is partly down to the horrible behavior on both sides that have characterized the recent games, and also to the testiness of the rivalry. For most other games the comment section is perfectly reasonable.

Frank from Poland on January 26, 2012 at 9:30 am

I was trying to write it after last Madrid – Barcelona game, but my post has dissapeared. First of all, it was a great game, which can be created only by that two teams. Second – I think that finally Mourinho has found the way to beat Barcelona. And by ‘beat’ I mean to replace them as a number one team in the world. There are no unbeatable plans. Guardiola’s philosophy can be beaten as well as Mourinho’s.

There is no shame in the amount of energy, that Real’s players has put in this game. It’s simply the only way how to win over Barca. And win consistently. Four defenders, playing reasonable high line and two extremally active midfielders (imagine Essien without injury and and… imagine two Essien’s in the middle of Madrid’s midfield), who can also shoot from distance and create the game (maybe not as good as Xavi, but not Makalele type of player neither). In front of them, four energetic attackers, who can fluently swap their positions and who are capable of going back and press Barca. That’s all. Physical game versus technical one.

You can’t beat Barca by playing tiki-taka, slow and technical game. You can beat them by extremally heavy pressing and by using all of the oportunities to go forward. First 30 minutes of the game has shown it perfectly. After 15 minutes it should be 2:0 for Real. And that’s how You should play against Barca – try to trample them to the grass.

After yesterday match, Mourinho is closer to finally start winning against Barca regularly. His side was motivated, has shown energy and was very unfortunate to end the first half with two goals against. But think about it how often Higuain miss such shoots as the one from the first minute and how often shoots like Alves’ are going in.

We speak about Guardiola’s skills and perfection forgeting about the fact, that Mourinho is not a stupid guy. He prefer physical and defensive football over technical and sexy one, but so what? That is his style. There are lots of post concerning about Barca’s worst game and Madrid’s best. Ok, it was Real’s best game. But it was such becouse their players made Barca worst game. Barcelona’s midfielders are the most technically gifted players in the world. But even they have their limits and maximum amount of pressure that they can handle. Watching this game I fought that there were on the pitch 12 or 13 Madrid’s players. Not just only 11. Energy, presisng and attacking aproach – this is the way. Adding it to Madrid’s consistency in La Liga and we have next ‘invincible’ team.

I’m not a fan of Barca neither Real (my favourite team in Spain is Bilbao), so I can watch their games calmly. And that’s what I see.

ZM, I am a bit surprised by your comment that Mourinho got the tactics right? Is the decision to not start with Benzema, their best player these days, also part of this.

Many have commented here, how Barca didnt use all their opportunities to counter attack. This happens only when Xavi is on the field. Watch the last weeks match against Malaga. Almost all the time Messi got the ball, you could see his turn around and attack. But he doesnt do it so after when Xavi is present. I dont know if this has to do with Barca tactics with or without Xavi or is it just because Xavi does not want a counter attack.

True, Madrid was unlucky not to have won this game. But they were also lucky to have played the full second half with 11 men (ref. Lass). This would have caused a serious blow to Madrid, than what happened to Barca, ie the replacement of a player like Iniesta, with Pedro.

I really dont think, Madrid has closed the gap. It more looked like Barca having a rare off day. I would say this is their worst game of this season. Even Espanyol gave a better fight to Barca.

Clarence on January 26, 2012 at 10:42 am

Part of the reason was because Iniesta, Cesc and Alexis were all injured

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:47 pm

my blog is better than yours

Barca lover on January 26, 2012 at 11:40 am

Lets face it Madrid are fools and Baca rools

Evandro on January 26, 2012 at 2:08 pm

Even Cesc being an outstanding player, I honestly think his coming for Barça has made the team worse. Barça has so much to gain with Messi and two strikers up front, instead of playing with Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta and Busquets. Their 4-3-3 doesn’t seem like a 4-3-3 anymore.

It’s obvious that, this season, Guardiola is getting used to reinvent football as we know, trying to do a side of midfielders. The question is, is it working? Not against teams with great players, such as Real Madrid. Barça has been scoring more due to its individual skills than to its collective working.

Considering their number two scorer last year, Villa, is out for the year (and not in the best of form previously) and the injuries to Alexis, Pedro, Iniesta (two of whom are out again), the team has needed scoring. Pedro was their #3 scorer and Iniesta was the #4.

Messi has stepped up and provided even more goals if you can believe that,
Xavi has been excellent and scored more goals than usual.
But Cesc, with 14 goals, has been key.

He’s not only the teams #2 scorer, but he’s on pace to have more than Villa had last year. Yes, goals aren’t everything and he’s had off nights, but it’s still crucially important to have players that are finishers.

Evandro on January 27, 2012 at 2:22 pm

I have no doubt about how much Cesc is good.And, furthermore, I have no doubt about how he’s perfect for playing for Barcelona. But, I’m not pretty sure if playing with Iniesta, Busquets, Xavi and Fabregas is better than playing with another striker, such as Pedro. The Clásico, in my opinion, showed this clearly. After Pedro had come on, Barça was wider and faster.

Maybe my words weren’t good. Cesc is amazing for Barça. But, to play with him, Guardiola should put Xavi or Iniesta on the bench – if he wants to keep 4-3-3.

Adam on January 26, 2012 at 2:21 pm

If you look at this one game, Mourinho got his tactics correct. But it has to be said that the tie as a whole was his fault because of the formation he used in the first game. He was bound to get it right at some point, but still Madrid did not win.

Also, I don’t know why he doesnt play Kaka more often.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:48 pm

mourinho is gay

Gerry on January 26, 2012 at 4:21 pm

The continual play acting and excessive simulation from the Barcelona players was an absolute disgrace, particularly from fabregas, Busquets and Danny Alves. Alves and Busquets went down injured that many times that they should have been stretchered off and not allowed back on. This along with the Barcelona team hounding the referee at every opportunity to demand that opponents were sent off reflects that the growing feeling that this barca team is not only one of the greatest football teams of all time but also one of the most unsporting. The play acting and referee pressurising is as much a part of their tactics as tiki-taka. In their own way they are as bad as Revie’s Leeds. They’ll turn the game into a non-contact sport unless UEFA and match officials get wide to their constant diving

Fizan on January 27, 2012 at 6:56 am

Don’t worry though. baraca always beats real. And they always thrash you best English teams (man u, arse etc).. So it looks foolish when you try to bring Leeds into this discussion. Come to the same level first to have any debate.. You have a long way to go, Hehe.

Gerry on January 27, 2012 at 9:12 am

I’m not english, I’m just observing that it is part of Barcelona’s game plan to dive and play act and put pressure on the referee. That’s definitely unsporting and probably cheating

Iason on January 26, 2012 at 4:27 pm

This is my inner-cule fury talking, but I feel I need to say this. In all the clasicos where Barcelona dominate and win, most people try to say “Madrid made so and so mistake” and it almost feels as if people are trying to take some of the credit away from Barcelona. But the few times Madrid play better (and still not even win), it’s all about Madrid and how much they outclassed Barcelona on the night.

Also, when Barcelona dominate, it never has anything to do with Guardiola. But when Madrid plays better, Mourinho did everything perfect and outsmarted Pep. I know, I know, people have complained about this before. This isn’t a dig at ZonalMarking, just me expressing my slight annoyance. You can argue all night long about how Mourinho got his tactics spot on, and how Guardiola never has to change anything because his team is already made, but there is more to it than that. Mourinho took about 12 clasicos just to figure out a system that works enough against a very sub-par Barcelona to tie. And what is this magic system he discovered? A very similar formation that Real Madrid has used for most of this decade, the formation they used before Mourinho came and started experimenting. Yesterday was classic Madrid, doing that they should have always been doing.

And then people say Guardiola doesn’t have to do much. Yet it his tiny positional changes and his amazing view of details which have decided most of Barcelona’s clasico wins. These tiny details rarely get the credit they deserve, yet their is an argument to be made that these details require more tactical acumen than repeatedly changing formations looking for the right one. Mourinho gets chance after chance to find the right formation, he eventually finds one. Guardiola has the right base, so he has to dig deeper and look for different forms of perfection in every game in order to give him team the advantage. I’m not saying Mourinho is bad and Guardiola is good, but I want to see credit given where it is due.

jclemmons on January 26, 2012 at 5:33 pm

You’re right, basically. Particularly, your last paragraph.

But I think it’s even more than this. Look at how many comments on here are quick to point out that Guardiola is slipping, that Madrid, who had been handily beaten in the previous two Clasicos, has suddenly “found its touch.” Based on what? An inspired second-half performance? A change of formation that Guardiola will not be able to scheme for in future games? I’ve been around this fixture way too long to know that individual performances, no matter how impressive, never trump patterns and overall trends.

Sure, let’s give credit where credit is due: Madrid played outstanding. Had they been more clinical with their finishing, they might have progressed. But can’t the same be said for Barcelona in the first leg? Regardless, Mourinho is still in a tight spot. Think of it this way: he’s asking his team to try a litany of tactics and playing styles that are so different from one another (high block; low block; 4-3-3; 4-4-2; 4-2-3-1) and which requires an incredible degree of flexibility from his players. That’s taxing.

As discussed on here before, this is much easier for a team like Barcelona. They play a multitude of formations but rarely change their playing style. They have specific attributes that differ from formation to formation (Sanchez playing as a striker, for example), but they rarely change HOW the play. As such, they constantly reinforce their talent. Mourinho, on the other hand, is asking somewhat of the opposite. He’s having moderate success with a variety of formations (at Inter against Barcelona it was a low block — solved; at Madrid in ‘11 it was the 4-2-3-1 — solved; then the 4-3-3 — solved) but eventually these are planned for, unlocked, and discarded. One game’s minor success is another game’s foil. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?

At best, I think within the current parameters of the Real Madrid team the best way forward is to play Barcelona in “phases.” Perhaps even to do what Guardiola did in the December fixture: disguise your formation, play flexible midfielders/forwards, and play the game in a series of “minor games,” attempting to either win 2/3 or win one of those phases so handily that the other two can be barely lost. Again, this is difficult because you’re asking your team to constantly play away from it’s “hub,” away from the way it probably does in 98% of the league fixtures…but it’s probably the only way to beat this Barcelona team, which is indeed the best ever.

jclemmons on January 26, 2012 at 5:35 pm

One more thing: These Real Madrid and Barcelona teams are so much better than any CL winning teams in the last decade that it’s almost impossible to talk about. I can’t see either being beaten in a major competition this year except by one another.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:49 pm

iason your father still sucks dick for a living?

thenamestsam on January 26, 2012 at 8:52 pm

I just think people have run out of positive things to say about Barcelona. There is no need to say that they’re brilliant at the beginning of every article about them. Everyone knows and agrees that they’re brilliant. Everything you’re saying has been said here and elsewhere 100 times. They’re the best team in the world. Some feel they’re the best ever (I’m too young to comment on that matter). You really believe they don’t get enough credit when people are calling them the greatest team of all time?

sergio ramos on January 26, 2012 at 8:57 pm

gay gay gay

AnArsenalFan on January 26, 2012 at 6:21 pm

Alex Ferguson has had the ideas Mou tried in this game for some time, and tried them in the last UCL final. Fergie took a lot of flack for his 2-man midfield but it was the right idea.

A 4-4-2 can trouble Barca’s 4-3-3 if properly executed- it leaves Busquets with less to do and stretches the Puyol-Pique backline, which is not used to being under much pressure from two strikers.

If you have energetic attackers that can move a lot through the backline plus two strong wingers as outlets (since you’ll never be able to play against Barca through the midfield) you have a good chance.

It should have worked perfectly for United and in the early minutes of the last final it did- they pressed the defenders but it came apart I think because Fergie was NOT aggressive enough (though most accuse him of being TOO aggressive). He should have pressed higher and higher up the pitch and used Rooney, Hernandez, and Valencia to push back even harder.

In the future though Barca might start getting more severe tests from high-energy 4-4-2s. City, United, Madrid, and Tottenham are all very well-equipped to deploy that kind of strategy.

The lesson:

- Be aggressive by deploying two fast strikers to press the Barca defense
- Use two fast wingers to push back against Alves and have channels to dump the ball out to from midfield, since you’ll never ever win the midfield battle fully against Barca anyway

r on January 26, 2012 at 6:43 pm

As a Barcelona fan, I hope this is the case, as it will clearly make more of a case for Guardiola’s 3-4-3 experiment.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:51 pm

barcelonna fans are gays

Fizan on January 27, 2012 at 6:59 am

Please , dont embarrass yourself !

Abu Suhayeb on January 26, 2012 at 7:30 pm

Very frustrating to watch Barca play a game of major importance.
1st off more often than not the Ref gives game chaining calls against the opposition and in favor of Barca this cause a situation were allot of people don’t think Barca can win anything of significance under Pep without the help of the officials. I have to agree with these people because it happens to often in these “big” matches to written off as luck.

When ever a team does bring their best performance and manage to contain and better Barca they always come undone thanks to a poor referring call.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:52 pm

abu go to the middle east kill people

Cogito on January 26, 2012 at 7:41 pm

There’s been a lot of talk of Mourinho’s use of a 4-4-2 in the final stage of the game. On the one hand teams playing a 4-4-2 have often had more success (examples would be Sevilla, Villarreal, Hercules, Copenhagen) then those employing the more conventional approach of sitting back. This may partially be because having an additional attacker makes it easier to exploit those mistakes where Barcelona’s high line and press can be be broken. Today it was all the easier because Valdes was not in goal.

However, the most high profile team to go 4-4-2 (ish, some like to refer to it as 4-2-4) against Guardiola’s Barcelona was Man Utd in the final, where Barcelona wiped the floor with them. In the case of Villarreal and and Copenhagen there are obviously other factors in play – Villarreal’s use of a box shape in midfield changes passing angles and makes it easier to play around the defensive pressing in the middle, while Copenhagen played a system which was ueber-fluid, not unlike Barcelona themselves.

However, surely Guardiola’s dalliances with the 3-4-3 indicate that he has anticipated this threat hell, wasn’t it Atletico back in his first year that gave him trouble playing a high-energy, attacking 4-4-2, prompting the shift in thought?, in fact, faced and hammered it before (see Villareal losing 5-0 earlier this year). The added advantage for Guardiola is he can change individual specifics of how his team carry out the general framework of the Barcelona game easily thanks to players multirole ability and natural inclinations to shift into multiple roles.

It’s worthy of note that three of Guardiola’s key players in Clasicos suffered fitness/injury problems, did they not? (Cesc, Iniesta, Sanchez). Furthermore, Guardiola can surely be accused of complacency by not adapting to the Real Madrid change in tactics as he might normally have done.

It’s hard to draw many conclusions from a game that was largely meaningless at half-time (i.e., Barcelona leading 4-1 with two away goals), saw fitness problems, inconsistent refereeing (which hurt both sides at various points, to leave it at that), the starting (and far better at the “sweeper-keeper” role) keeper on the bench, as well as some below par pressing and passing from Barcelona.

Beyond that I simply don’t agree that Real Madrid dominated Barca in the first half. I thought they had better chances but they seemed sloppy in possession from time to time (Lassana Diarra was often guilty of this) and it seemed there were many moments where they were a hair’s breadth from going down (which in the end they did). Not that Barcelona “deserved” to lead 2-0 at half time.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:53 pm

mourinho uses the 4 4 2 and fuck you too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jjajajajajajajajajaj

rooney is a retard!!

Gino on January 26, 2012 at 8:05 pm

Well, All I a got to say is that RM played a Better game. BUT Barca was not up to its usual standard. you can say all you want. But, did you see Pique? WTF was he doing all game? starting at second 38. And Pinto was awful. Xavi is worn, he seems tired as does Messi. Abidal was a bit erratic…

This was not the best version of Barca. ALSO, historically since Guardiola has been the coach, January is the the lowest performance month for Barca, both physically and touch play wise.

All things said above, Madrid played well the first 35 minutes and the last 20 minutes, but I would not drink the KOOLAID yet.

About Referees I am not going to say nothing. Everybody knows the losers never get over it and everybody pulls their way.

messi on January 26, 2012 at 8:55 pm

gino you have a gay name…

looks you are a faggott

you´re girlfriend knows it?

sergio ramos on January 26, 2012 at 8:56 pm

today i offer a cake to my boss

00 on January 26, 2012 at 8:58 pm

my blog is better than yours

00 on January 26, 2012 at 8:59 pm

zonal maarking sucks

fourfourtwo is the best

00 on January 26, 2012 at 9:00 pm

robert are you still sucking dicks?

loser

KC on January 26, 2012 at 9:37 pm

Know its gonna sound silly, but pressure from the front is just from your frontmen on the oppositions defenders right?

Alex on January 26, 2012 at 10:15 pm

No, pressure from the front is reference to any of your players holding the opposition players by the balls. Pressure from the back is when a player sticks his dick into the opposition player’s ass and only applies to Messi.

KC on January 27, 2012 at 3:40 pm

LOL, cheers…

Terry on January 26, 2012 at 10:39 pm

Okay, I’ve been quiet for a while now, but I must speak up. It’s unreal how brain washed Madrid fans have become. Mourinho has seriously screwed the culture. Anyone still in rooted in reality could see that Barca was shafted out of several decisions over the two legs, yet the Madrid fans sincerely have been convinced that the refs are against them. It’s unreal.

Alf on January 27, 2012 at 6:44 pm

Ignorance and pride will blind them even of the most painfully obvious truth:

One point of disagree with the article: Barcelona’s lack of depth. Alexis is a player who looks to get behind defenders. Playing him in the middle has given room for Messi and Cesc. I would argue that Pedro doesn’t really provide depth; he provides width.

That said, the article is the only piece of writing that mentions Madrid’s transitions to attack. (I checked the comments and few mentioned ‘counters’ with any specificity and none used the word ‘transition.’) Both of Madrid’s goals came from transitions launched in Barcelona’s defensive end. Madrid’s tactics were very clear: press Barcelona into mistakes; get the ball to Ozil or the two forwards with, preferably, one pass; and rely on their pace and power to get past the defenders. Madrid seemed content to even long-ball it forward to those targets.

I think the article identified the most important aspect of the game.

Ramos on January 27, 2012 at 8:25 am

Ramos’ goal disallowed? And just look at that scum Bousquets’ face when that happened. Frankly I think actors like Bousquets and Alves are a big shame to such a great team like Barca.

Alf on January 27, 2012 at 3:44 pm

Over 30 fouls (not counting all of the non-calls for advantage play), 8 yellow cards, one red card (Lass and Coentrao should have been sent off too) and people still think Madrid are the victims??

If Mourinho is a genius at anything it is deception. Why do so many people not realize his antifootball is ruining football as we know it? “If you can’t stop them, hack them” is is motto. Just watch all of Messi’s plays. Half of them he is being held, hacked, impeded, tackled, assaulted, etc. If you can’t win legally, cheat. Mourinho doesn’t ever deserve to win.

Yawn… aren’t there other websites for trolls ? please do not spoil ZM too..

Alf on January 27, 2012 at 6:40 pm

So “messi” can post insults and crude remarks after all Barca fans and I’m the one trolling for pointing out facts? What form of schizophrenia do you have?

Marck on January 27, 2012 at 7:03 pm

I included that person too in that list.. what ‘facts’ are you pointing out in a tactics website ?

Marck on January 27, 2012 at 4:13 pm

Great game and a great article ZM.. disgusted with the diving and cheating by both the teams though..

I still feel RM need a new Full back to play as RB.. Arbeloa is not great and he was out of position for the first goal.. a good RB should have tracked Pedro when Messi was surrounded by 2 or 3 players and he wouldnt have shot from there.. Ramos looks to be playing CB nowadays..

Mourinho’s tactics always was to play for a draw or a 0-0 at home and try to win with away goals in Barcelona.. but it was ruined last year in the CL with the red card and with a poor defense in the last leg.. surprising that many don’t get this..

The only thing i felt as something wrong with the lineup was Higuain starting insetad of Benzema.. Benzema is more physical, more effective in pressing and is more familiar with the style they played in the first few minutes.. he also scored the early chance in the classico.. Higuain could have started from the bench..

The real Man of the Match was Ozil though.. what a game he had.. would have been a wonder goal if that went in.. Robben would have been proud of that.. and he really exposed Abidal. This is for the first time that Madrid routed their attacks through him in the classicos instead of hitting long balls in the wings or towards the penalty box.. usually Xabi Alonso is the guilty party often hitting long diagnoal balls leaving Ozil to play as a CM instead of as AM..

Always used to be amused when people called him a ‘Classico flop’.. How on earth can a playmaker be successful if he does not get the ball.. In this match, he got the ball and did what he does for the national team.. where the attack revolves around him..

Ronaldo and Benzema were also good.. Pepe and Ramos were better than Carvalho.. and this time, Ramos did not change the marking in set pieces and allowed Puyol a free header too.. Kaka, started brightly but faded off after 20 minutes which is what he usually does in the other matches also when he starts..

Barca were surprisingly awful with the ball.. spent lot of time passing the ball without any intention.. if someone tries to say that Tiki taka is a purely offensive tactic even after this match, they are pure liars.. Madrid were all over them and Barca simply resorted to pass-till–they-bore strategy.. which ultimately could have cost them the game..

Their injuries are growing and Guardiola may have to pay the price for not strengthening the squad in the summer..

Jonathan on January 27, 2012 at 7:36 pm

Awesome game and I think, that Real would be way better if they let their most gifted players play – no Diarra for example. Kaka and Ozil in front of Alonso or even Sahin (or Pepe and Varane at the back, because Carvalho seems to slow for a high defensive line) with three strikers to feed would be very interesting. High pressing, aggressive forechecking and with Benzema, Higuain and Ronaldo three well rounded forwards who can swap positions to bring chaos into the back four of Barcelona.

ZM, I really appreciate ur match analysis skills. Could u please cover some Africa Cup matches? There are some really interesting teams like Gabon, Zambia or Ghana. Maybe this post is misplaced here but i dont know where else to post it.

Before I start off, I’m NOT a fan of Real Madrid and neither of Barcelona. My team is another from another country which has very little to do with these 2.

In my honest opinion the reason Real Madrid can not beat Barcelona is basically due to it’s player’s mentality which is most likely Mourinho’s fault, really. Last Real Madrid matches have been a disgrace to watch.

Obviously Barcelona also did fouls and dives in the games, but what team wouldn’t when their opponent are playing this way? This is football AND it has it’s own rules, not some god damn UFC matches (which I also enjoy by the way). This has nothing to do with bullshit like “if you don’t want physical contat go watch ballet”, physical contact is indeed a part of the games but THERE ARE RULES, seriously. Diving and this kind of fouling shouldn’t be left unpunished, I can’t understand how it’s possible that they still let Pepe play, and I’m pretty sure most Real Madrid fans with any kind of sense would agree. I do understand fouling to stop attacks but not this kind of fouling Real Madrid are doing. I have the impression Mourinho is using some kind of extremely dumb mentality that the referees are always working against them or something like that so Madrid players are apparently always pissed.

I really think Madrid has a team which could stand a fair chance against Barcelona if they worked together. I can’t understand how Madrid fans can stand the way their team has been playing lately having in mind they could be playing much better considering the potential of their players.

Anyways, I see 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1 as the best formations to use against Barcelona. Use 4-4-2 while Barcelona are still playing with a back four then switch to 4-4-1-1 when they switch to 3 at the back because I think that 4-4-1-1 would be able to break 3 defenders but I’m not sure, should work especially using the pace of for example Cristiano Ronaldo (one of, if not, the unarguably fastest players in the world currently) against Barcelona’s slow defenders.

If Real Madrid had two really energetic central midfielders comfortable both attacking and defending (perhaps like Marchisio and possibly Wilshere in the future?), I believe a 5-2-3 would work against Barcelona.

stef on January 30, 2012 at 7:57 am

When Madrid were chasing a win against Mallorca a week ago, Mourinho’s solution was to play 3-4-3 with Casillas; Coentrão, Pepe, Sergio Ramos; Alonso; Callejon, Ozil, Kaka, Ronaldo; Benzema, Higuain.

Letting go of the double-pivot means that you get an extra attacking weapon, and Madrid capitalised, beating Mallorca 2-1, but it could have been more. It would be super-brave to play like this in the Clasico, but I truly believe that Barca’s defence is incapable of dealing with this lineup. The result would probably look like a tennis score, but Madrid have to shift these matches from midfield battles to attack vs defence like they did in the 2nd half.